This application claims priority to United Kingdom (GB) patent application number 0031060.7 filed on Dec. 20, 2000.
The present invention relates to latch arrangements, and in particular latch arrangements for use within doors of cars (automobiles).
Known car doors include latches for releasably retaining the car door in a closed position. Such latches can be locked when the car is left unattended or even when an occupant is in the vehicle so as to prevent access to the vehicle by unauthorized people.
Such latches can be moved between a locked and unlocked condition either by manual means such as by operating an inside sill button or an exterior key barrel, or they can be powered between the locked and unlocked conditions by a power actuator, which can be controlled remotely by, for example, infra red devices.
A problem with such power locking/unlocking is that in the event that power is lost e.g. during a road traffic accident or as a result of a flat battery, it may not be possible to change the state of the lock. Thus where a vehicle is in use and the doors are locked and the vehicle is involved in a road traffic accident, the occupant of the vehicle may find themselves locked in the vehicle immediately following the crash and this clearly has safety implications. Furthermore, the power actuator is expensive to produce and manufacture. An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of latch arrangement.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided a latch arrangement including a latch, a manually actuable element, a release mechanism and a power control means, the latch being operable to releasably retain a striker in use, the release mechanism being capable of being moved by the manually actuable element from a latched position to an unlatched position wherein it unlatches the latch, the power control means having a first, second and third condition. The first condition is a non powered condition and actuation of the manually actuable element does not cause the release mechanism to unlatch the latch.
The second condition is a powered condition and actuation of the manually actuable element does not cause the release mechanism to unlatch the latch. The third condition the power control means is in a non powered condition and actuation of the manually actuable element causes the release mechanism to unlatch the latch.